Carolina celebrates Black History Month 2024

UNC-Chapel Hill will celebrate Black History Month throughout February with lectures, performances and exhibitions.

The second Dr. Genna Rae McNeil Endowed Black History Month lecture highlights this year’s events. Keisha N. Blain, a New York Times best-selling author, award-winning historian and professor, will deliver the lecture at 7 p.m. Feb. 22 at the Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Research in Black Culture and History.

Blain is the author of “Four Hundred Souls,” “Until I Am Free” and “Set the World on Fire.” She is also a columnist for MSNBC and received the 2022 Guggenheim and Andrew Carnegie fellowships.

Black History Month at Carolina also features these events:

The Carolina Black Caucus, a group for Black faculty and staff at Carolina, will take its annual “We Are Carolina’s Black History” community photo at noon Feb. 1 on the steps of South Building.
The 2024 Black History Month Art Gallery at the Frank Porter Graham Student Union will open Feb. 2 with a 5:15-6:30 p.m. event.
University Libraries will present “On the Books: Jim Crow and Algorithms of Resistance” on Zoom, noon-1 p.m. Feb. 7. The project used text analysis and expert assessments of the North Carolina General Statutes from 1966 to 1967 to identify Jim Crow laws.
The Carolina Black Caucus and Carolina women’s basketball will host the 2024 Black History Month Tribute game at Carmichael Arena at 6 p.m. Feb. 15. The Tar Heels will meet the Pitt Panthers in a game to honor the Black trailblazers at the University, including Robyn Hadley, Lachonya Thompson and Danita Mason-Hogans.
UNC-Chapel Hill Digital and Lifelong Learning will host “The Ongoing Fight for Freedom: Stories of NC’s Black Veterans,” a one-man live performance by Sonny Kelly, 3-5 p.m. Feb. 25 at the Friday Center. The performance elevates Black freedom fighters and veterans with North Carolina connections.
The Black Student Movement will host various events throughout the month, starting with Game Night at 6 p.m. Feb. 1 at the Upendo Lounge in the Student and Academic Services Building North.
The School of Social Work’s third installment of the Black History Month Research Series features David Williams’ “The Virus of Racism: Understanding Its Threats and Mobilizing Defenses” noon-1:30 p.m. Feb. 8. The four discussions of the series will be held virtually Feb. 8-29.